10,000 young people in Hertfordshire and Essex have received life-saving water safety information

This year students in Hertfordshire and Essex have taken part in interactive water safety assemblies delivered by the Robbie Lea Water Safety Partnership. One particularly poignant assembly took place on 21 March at Goffs Academy in Broxbourne, Hertfordshire, this was the school attended by Robbie Jordan Lea, a young man from Cheshunt who tragically drowned in May 2017 after getting into difficulty swimming in a lake in River Lee Country Park.

The Robbie Lea Water Safety Partnership was created in July 2017 in Robbie’s memory to support and enhance water safety education initiatives in the area. Over the past seven years Robbie’s legacy has seen over 10,000 children across Hertfordshire and Essex engaged in water safety.

During the assemblies students learn about the dangers of swimming in unsupervised open water which can lead to difficulties for even the most experienced swimmers; unexpected risks including old submerged machinery and cables which could snag a swimmer, unexpected currents, shallow waters, Weil’s disease and, one of the most common causes of drowning, cold water shock which can occur in any UK waters.

Students also discover what to do if they find themselves or others in difficultly in the water, learning vital life-saving skills from a Royal Life Saving Society presentation along with RNLI’s Float to Survive guidance and information on how to use the What3Words App to help emergency services to quickly locate you.

Commenting on the partnership’s water safety campaign, Karen Wheeler, Learning and Engagement Advisor at Lee Valley Regional Park Authority said, “We are delighted to have reached over 10,000 young people since 2017 with this crucial message. As the summer approaches and the temperature rises it’s vital that young people are aware of the dangers of entering open water and the tragic consequences it can have. The number of young people losing their life through accidental drowning continues to rise, highlighting how important this work is”.

The award winning Robbie Lea Water Safety Partnership has grown in recent years, extending its reach into East Hertfordshire and working closely with partners in Essex. The assemblies form part of a wider campaign delivered by the partnership, whose members include the family of Robbie Lea, Lee Valley Regional Park Authority, Hertfordshire Constabulary, Hertfordshire Fire & Rescue Service, Essex County Fire and Rescue Service, RNLI, Canal and River Trust, Crucial Crew, Parks Patrol - Broxbourne Council, Royal Life Saving Society, Hertfordshire Boat Rescue, Broxbourne Boat Centre, Greenwich Leisure Limited (GLL) and Essex Country Parks.

Other pioneering work supported by the partnership includes a new life-saving water rescue scheme in Hertfordshire and Essex to help tackle the number of tragic drowning deaths. The Waterside Responder Scheme has been designed by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) to provide life-saving skills and equipment for hospitality venues located near to water, particularly those who serve alcohol.

In partnership with RNLI, Hertfordshire Fire & Rescue Service and Essex County Fire and Rescue Service are offering hospitality venues alife-saving session which teaches basic skills and knowledge that will help them safely assist somebody in trouble in water, prior to the arrival of the fire service. The throw bags and the sessions are being provided completely free of charge. The scheme is just one of many initiatives being delivered to make Essex safer as part of the Essex Water Safety Forum. Hertfordshire Fire & Rescue Service will be piloting the scheme from this summer, to coincide with UN Drowning Prevention Day on Thursday 25 July.

In addition the partnership also actively supports national water safety campaigns and attends events, such as last year’s ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships at Lee Valley White Water Centre, delivering practical hands-on sessions and live rescue demonstrations.

Further advice and guidance on staying safe in and around water can be found here/ at visitleevalley.org.uk

#RememberRobbie #WaterSafety #RespectTheWater #EndDrowning #RLWSP #BroxbourneCouncil

Hi-res imagery is available to download from here: https://leevalleypark.canto.global/b/LMV5R

For more information, hi-res imagery or to request interviews, please contact:

Jackie Tolland, Senior Communications Officer

M: 07785 303 718E: jtolland@leevalleypark.org.uk

Notes to Editors

About the Robbie Lea Water Safety Partnership

The Robbie Lea Water Safety Partnership was set up to create a multi-agency plan to support and enhance water safety education initiatives. It brings together organisations currently providing water safety education with those offering to support initiatives, to help prevent further tragedies following the death of Robbie Lea in a lake in Lee Valley Regional Park in May 2017.

The partnership was inspired by the efforts of Sarah Doe (Robbie’s mother) to raise awareness of water safety issues.

The partnership aims to stimulate behavioural change and raise awareness of water safety issues with young people through a positive educational approach. Partners provide their skills and knowledge to deliver water safety messages and enable educators and students to disseminate them through the student community.

The partnership has grown in recent years, extending its reach into East Hertfordshire and working closely with partners in Essex. This has seen further water safety assemblies taking place as part of Hertfordshire Constabulary’s Hertfordshire Water Safety Initiative and Canal and River Trust’s water safety programme. Members of the partnership have also attended Crucial Crew child safety events to deliver water safety messages, including the education team at Essex County Fire and Rescue Service presenting to 1,000 young people in March and Hertfordshire Constabulary set to engage 780 primary school children later this month. In addition Hertfordshire Fire & Rescue Service has been delivering water safety messages to 1,200 year 6 students across St Albans since 2019.

Awards

The Robbie Lea Water Safety Partnership’s work has been recognised through community engagement awards:

• The partnership won the Innovation in Public Service and Community Focus Award at the Hertfordshire Constabulary Awards and has since been nominated for the National Awards.

• The partnership won the HEART (Hertfordshire Excellence, Achievement, Recognition and Thanks) Award in the category of Community Safety Initiative of the Year.